Improvement in propelling apparatus for boats



1 fizyeN/ar N. PETERS. PMOTO-LIYHOGRAPNER. WASHINGTON. D. c,

.-dnttrd lteres @met (titille.

JOSEPH REPETTI, OE PIIILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 111,681, dated February 7, 1871 antedated February 4,-18'71.

IMPROVEMENT IN PR-OPELLING APPlARATUS'FOR BOATS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making p'art of the same.

To all whom'fitfmay vconcern Beit known that I, JOSEPH RriPn'rTr, of Philadelphia, in'the county of Philadelphia and in the 4State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Propelling Apparatus for Boats g and dollerebyrdeclare that the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing hereinafter referred'to, forms a full and exact specification of the same, wherein I have set forth `the nature and principles of my said improvement, by which my invention may be distinguished from others of a simi-lar class,rtogeth'er with such parts as I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent.

Figure l of the .accompanyingv drawing represents a vertical longitudinal section of the apparatus as applied to a boat and Figure 2 a plan of the same. l

The principal points of novelty in my invention consist in the application of helical springs to the driv'- ing-shaftfor the purpose of converting an oscillating motion into 'an intermittent revolving one; vin passing the propeller-shaft through` an inclined tube, for the purpose of dispensing with a stuffing-box; and in the general arrangement o f the parts, as will hereafter be described.- y

The driving-shaft a revolves inbearings, lfb, and is capableof sliding thereinlongitudinally. Upon' this shaft are fastened the bevel-wheels c c', either-'of which may be brought into gear with the wheel d on the propeller-shaft m, by means of the lever e,.whieh passes through the eye f on the sleeve g.

This sleevelg lits loosely over the shaft a, and just fills the space between the wheels c c; 4the wheels thus act as fast collars, so that any longitudinal mot-ion communicated to them is transferred to the shaft a.

The lever hv and spring e' are fastened together, as are also the lever h and spring t'.

The levers 7i. and h oscillate loosely on the shaft a in either direction, but the springs t t" revolve loosely only in one direction.

Each forward stroke of either ,lever contracts the` convolutions of its spring, which, therefore, takes rm hold of the shaft a and revolves it to the extent of the motion giveuby the lever; on the return stroke of the latter the convolutions of the spring expand and theshaft a. is left free.

' lhe object of providing the shaft a with two springs, two levers, and two wheels is, first, to make the mo-v tion more continuous, and second, to secure a means by which to reverse the motion of thepropeller'z.

rlhe reversion is accomplished by moving thev shaft a longitudinally, as before described, until the other wheel comes in contact with the wheel (l.

,per end.

For the purpose of keeping the wheels in proper `position apin, k, is put against the lever e, as shown AThe guards x :v prevent the clothing, Ste., of thel operator from being caught between the gears-d, c, and c.

lhe propellershaft passes through the inclined water-tight -tuben-and,carriesthe wheel d `at its up- The upper end of the tube n should always beabove the water-lille, so that any waterthat lnay pass into the tube at the-lower end will not run into the boat.

lheleversV h -h are provided at their lower eXtremity with pins p p', by means of which they may be operated by't e feet of the person desirous of moving the boat.

'In order that several persons may participate in the labor'of propelling the boat the benches g q are provided, on which ,such operators Amay sit and impart with their feet an oscillating motion to the levers r fr.

These levers vibrate on stn'ds, s s', fastened to the bottom of the boat-.

.As the levers lr r' are connected with the levers h It' by cords t t', it follows, that the motion of r r' is therebycommnnicated to h h', and thus to the shaft'a.

In order that the levers 7ih' may always move in opposite directions when they are actuated, they are connected at` their extremity' by the cord 'u passing around the loose pulley c'.

.The operation of the apparatus is as follows It' one operator desires to propel theiboat he takes' his seat upon the bench w, puts a foot on each of the vpins p p', and gives to them a reciprocating, which proi Any additional operators seat themselves upon the.

benches q q', and by giving au oscillating motion to the levers r 1" with their feet help .to propel lthe boat in .the manner before described.

I do not claim as ,my invention the spiral springs i t', abstractl-y, nor the idea of reversing motion by means of bevel-wheels; but What I claim is- 1. The combination of the helical springs/i i with thc shaft a, wheels c c', Wheels d, and propeller-shaft m, and propeller z, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.' l

2, The combination of -tlie`levers h h with the heli-j cal springs i i', shaft a, wheels o c', wheel' ll, propellershaft m, and propeller z, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The arrangement of-Kthe propellerlsliafb m.,.in elined tube n, propel1erz,-and wheel fl, substantially as and for the pnrposeset forth.

4. The Combination of the lever e, eye f, sleeve g, and pin k, substantially as 1and for the purpose sei; forth. n Y

5.' rlhe -combination of the levers r lr', cords t t,

oord u, pulley fv, pins p p', and levers h h', substantially as and for the purpose speciecl.

6. The arrangement of the benen w, guards x x, benches q q', levers h h', and r o", substantially` as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony that I lClaim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this dayof' May, 1870.

VViisnesses:- JOSEPH REPETTI.

J. YPLANKIN'LONV7 A. SINZHEIMER. 

